Vienna (agencies)
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners within the framework of the “OPEC +” alliance will hold a meeting in Vienna next Wednesday “for the first time since March 2020” and the emergence of the “Covid-19” epidemic, as the alliance announced in a statement yesterday.
Representatives of the 13 member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their 10 allies, led by Russia, are meeting amid rumors of deep production cuts in the face of fears of recession, and with falling demand for oil.
The price of oil has fallen sharply since the last meeting in September to around $80, away from the highs recorded in March, when a barrel of Brent oil reached $139.13 and West Texas Intermediate $130.50, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Before the “pandemic”, producers met twice a year in the Austrian capital.
But since the spring of 2020, the 23 members have met each month by video link, to get better results in the face of fluctuations in demand.
In the spring of 2020, they voluntarily left millions of barrels underground so as not to flood the market with oil due to health restrictions. Thanks to this, prices rose after falling to a negative level.
Then, “OPEC +” decided to increase production last year. But faced with fears of recession, the alliance chose in early September to cut production, and it may do so again.
Sources told Archyde.com that talks on reducing oil production focus on a possible increase in production cuts from 500,000 barrels per day to one million barrels per day to support the market. An informed source said last week that Russia may propose a production cut of up to one million barrels per day, while an OPEC source said that the size of the likely reduction is close to 500,000 barrels per day.